December 22, 2022

Stove Top Potpourri

I got myself into the mood of Christmas yesterday by having a stove top potpourri on top of my wood burner.  I only discovered these last year.  They are pots of simmering water with various ingredients in that make the room smell lovely.  Yesterday I made a Christmas one with 4 mugs of water a sliced up old orange, a couple of cinnamon sticks, some sprigs of rosemary and a couple of teaspoons of cloves.  If I had cranberries to hand I would have added those as well. Basically you throw all the ingredients into a pan and bring it to the boil and the turn it down and let it simmer and it will make your room smell lovely.  It you don’t trust having a pan on the stove you can do the same thing in a slower cooker or crock pot on a low heat.  This helps stop condensation if your house is prone to it too.  If you do leave the pan on the stove it is a good idea to check the water level now and again and then top it up with boiling water if it looks like it is going to boil dry,

 

Another version I make with includes a full apple cut up (I use wind fall apples that are bruised),  a lemon cut into chunks, some pine branches, a couple of cinnamon sticks, half an inch of fresh ginger and 4 mugs of water.  In fact you can add whatever you want and make up your own smells.  Sometimes I add essential oils  or things like vanilla essence.  In summer I will add herbs like mint and simmer with the slices of lemon that I have saved from my hot water drinks  in a morning.

 

Does anyone else make this and what if so, what are your favourite ingredients?

 

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